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Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Christine Rimmer Explains Why There's Nothing Like a Christmas Song

It’s that time of year again. You know what I mean. Ho-ho-ho and all that jazz.

Here in Sooner country--yes, that would be Oklahoma--our local pop radio station, 104.7 on your dial, switches to all Christmas, all the time during the week of Thanksgiving.

And do I listen? Oh, yes, I do. I can’t wait to get in the car between November 20th or so and New Years’ Day. A bounty of Christmas is right there, waiting for me. All it takes is the punch of a button, and maybe a slight adjustment of the volume dial.

See, I like it loud. Very loud. And it’s not like I don’t get plenty of Yule sounds at home. I’ve been collecting Christmas music since my younger son was born. As of today, I’ve got 29 Christmas albums, total, in two formats; CD and cassette. I’m loathe to ditch the cassettes, since I’m afraid I won’t find these treasures again. And then there's the iPod Nano I bought a few months ago. I've been loading it up with holiday cheer, as well.

And about my old cassette players--in the house and in the car? This is the one time of year they still get a workout. On cassette, I have what you could only call the classics: Burl Ives’s Have a Holly Jolly Christmas, Willie Nelson’s Pretty Paper and Elvis’s Blue Christmas. How am I going to say goodbye to those?

You guessed it. I’m not!

Plus, every year, I feel it’s my holiday duty to add one more great CD to my collection. Last year it was Bette Midler's Cool Yule. Love it! This year, I haven't decided yet. But I will. Oh, yes!

And back to 104.7 on your dial and all Christmas, all the time...

So I’m driving in my car with the radio on full blast and here comes that Christmas Song that reduces me to a blubbering mass of holiday tears, every time, without fail: The Christmas Shoes by Newsong. Heard that one? Don’t listen without a box of Kleenex. I warn you.

In case you’ve missed it, a little boy is buying the perfect shoes for his dying mama. He wants “her to be beautiful. If Mama meets Jesus tonight.” Can you spell s-o-b-b-i-n-g? Because I was. I do. Every time I hear that song. I drive with the tears streaming down my face.

No, that poor little boy doesn’t have enough money to pay for them, and yes, the holiday-hardened singer ends up putting his money down so the kid can give his mama her Christmas Shoes… Okay. I need that one. I really, really do….

17 comments:

Oh, my favs. . . Ruldolph (sung by Gene Autry, thank you very much!), Little Drummer Boy and Do You Hear What I Hear. I'm not religious, (once upon a time I was LOL), but I still love those two anyway. :)

I think thst song is beautiful as well. My absolute favorite song though is The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole. That song always relaxes me and puts me in the mood for Christmas. I also love Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant. When I was pregnant with son, who is also my firstborn, that song brought tears to my eyes because I could truly imagine how Mary felt.

Lois, oh I love Little Drummer Boy and Do You Hear What I Hear. And Gene Autry. Years ago, on the Dick VanDyke show--the first one, before I was born-hah!--their little boy sang the drummer boy song. So beautiful. Love it!

Years ago (before cassettes & CDs) I had several Christmas albums. But eventually, I got rid of my turntable and my albums. What was I thinking? Anyway, I eventually purchased a CD changer, but I didn't have any Christmas CDs until I stopped on-line at CDNOW and purchased a personalized CD of my favorite Christmas songs. So, that's it for my collection; 1 CD of 12 songs. But, when I look at it, I find that most of the songs are by the Morman Tabernacle Choir and Bing Crosby. I think my favorite song is 'O Holy Night' sung by the MTC followed closely by 'Little Drummer Boy'.

But the song that always makes me cry is 'White Christmas' by Bing Crosby. Some of the lyrics make me sad because I think of the people in my life who are no longer with me.

Now, the songs that make me laugh are found on a CD by Bob Rivers called 'White Trash Christmas'. It's a riot with such songs as 'Osama Got Run Over by a Reindeer'; 'The Little Hooters Girl'; 'Shoppin' Around for a Christmas Tree' and the title track of 'White Trash Christmas'.